The effect of breed type on the relative variability of different fat depots in cattle

It is well documented for cattle that there are distinct differences between breed types in the partitioning of carcass fat, the dairy breeds having relatively more intermuscular (IF) and kidney knob and channel fat (KKCF), and less subcutaneous fat (SF) than the British beef breeds at the same level of total fatness. Many of the simpler methods for predicting the fat content of an animal or carcass are based on measurement of the subcutaneous fat depot only (some ultrasonic techniques; carcass classification and fat depth probes) and would be expected to suffer from breed bias because of these different relations. This study examines a second aspect of the effect of breed type on fat deposition, namely the relative variability within the different depots among beef and dairy breeds. If the variability within the subcutaneous depot differs between types, this would lead to differences in the stability of prediction methods.